HOPES that the missing Argentinian submarine may be found have been dashed after investigators conceded they “have no trace” of the vessel.

The ARA San Juan went missing seven days ago with 44 crew members on board, and the fear is that the oxygen on board has now run out.

Clues emerged overnight that pointed to the possible whereabouts of the missing sub — a sound signal, flares and a “heat spot” — but these have been dismissed by officials.

The search for the missing submarine. Picture: The SunSource:Supplied

Argentina's navy is hunting for one of its submarines, which has been reported missing in the South Atlantic with a crew of 44 on board. Picture: AFP/Argentine NavySource:AFP

Some Argentine politicians have said they do not want British help in trying to find the sub, The Sun reports.

The Royal Navy has been lending a hand in an international effort to locate the 44 men and women on board the ARA San Juan, believed to have sunk in the South Atlantic.

But top politicians Gabriel Solano and Fernando Esteche slammed would-be rescuers, branding them “pirates” and “occupiers”.

Solano, leader of Argentina’s Workers’ Party, said in a tweet aimed at the Brits: “F*** you! Pirates.”

He added: “You are responsible for war crimes, like the sinking of the General Belgrano.”

The tweet was a reference to an Argentine warship sunk in 1982 by HMS Conqueror during the Falklands War, killing 323 Argentine sailors.

Solano also tweeted the British Government directly, writing: “They are occupation troops in an Argentine territory.”

The message was in response to a tweet by the British Embassy, which read: “Following a request from the Argentine Government, @RoyalNavy’s HMS Protector has been deployed to join the search and rescue effort for the #ARASanJuan.

“Our thoughts are with the crew of the submarine and their families.”

Many ordinary Argentinians slammed Solano for his aggressive stance.

‘NO TRACE OF THE SUBMARINE’

“At the moment we have no trace of the submarine,” navy spokesman Enrique Balbi told reporters Wednesday morning, according Argentinian newspaper Clarin.

“We are still in this search and rescue phase. We are in the critical part. The seventh day is being fulfilled today regarding oxygen, assuming that seven days ago it has no capacity to go to the surface and renew oxygen. But we do not rule out the other options, which may be on the surface.”

Mr Balbi confirmed that search vessels had detected a sound signal and three flares, but they were determined to have not come from the missing submarine.

He also discredited reports of a “heat spot” coming from the ocean floor.

About 30 boats and planes and 4000 people from Argentina, the US, the UK, Chile, Colombia, France, Germany, Uruguay and Brazil are part of the search.

The monster multinational effort has included sonar, thermal imaging and magnetic technologies, but none has provided any trace of the vessel.

“Of those three media, in acoustic form with the sonars, infra-red with the thermal image and the detector of magnetic anomalies, there was no type of contact that is supposed to be the submarine,” Mr Balbi said, in comments translated into English.

Argentina's Navy destroyer ARA Sarandi sails off to take part in the search of missing submarine ARA San Juan. Picture: AFP/Eitan AbramovichSource:AFP

Despite the frustrating lack of leads as investigators scour the ocean, Mr Balbi has not given up hope.

“We’re considering three scenarios: the submarine is above the surface with its engines running, adrift at sea without propulsion or submerged on the bottom of the ocean,” he said.

He noted that weather was favourable for the search on Wednesday, but that conditions would become “complicated” on Thursday.

Argentina's Navy lost contact with its ARA San Juan submarine at 7.30am last Wednesday after it left the port of Ushuaia in the country’s hostile south to sail around the tip of the Patagonia region.

The 34-year-old German-built diesel electric submarine last made contact with authorities when it was about 480km from the Argentinian coast to flag a mechanical breakdown with its batteries.

The seven-day search has been heartbreaking for family members of the missing crew members, many of whom have gathered at the Mar del Plata naval base, where the submarine was destined for.

Elena Alfaro, the sister of submarine crew member Federico Ibanez, is comforted outside a naval base, as she waits for news in Mar del Plata, Argentina. Picture: AP Photo/Marina DevoSource:AP

In a video that has gone viral, a female relative of a crew member emotionally interrogates Argentinian President Mauricio Macri for continuing to use the outdated vessels.

“It’s practically suicide to send them out in something so old,” the woman says in the video.

“Couldn’t you invest the state budget in trying to buy a new submarine? You’re playing with the lives of our people. Does someone have to die for things to change?”

Other family members have complained that the Argentinian navy responded too late.

“They took two days to accept help because they minimised the situation,” Federico Ibanez, the brother of 36-year-old submarine crew member Cristian Ibanez, told the Associated Press.

Mr Ibanez’s sister added: “I feel like authorities let too much time pass by and decisions were taken late.

“And yet, I still carry some hope.”

The view from a plane as the clock ticks on hopes of finding alive the 44 crew members of an Argentine submarine that went missing. Picture: AFP/Argentinian NavySource:AFP

“We know it’s been really rough, so even though the Argentinian navy protocol is to surface, it makes no sense with 6-8m waves to be sitting on the surface,” he told news.com.au yesterday.

“If I was in that situation, I would be sitting on the bottom and waiting, doing everything I could to slow down my metabolism and eke out the life support mechanisms, reduce oxygen use and CO2 creation.”

People pray for the crew of the missing Argentine submarine ARA San Juan, during a mass at the in Buenos Aires’ Cathedral. Picture: AP Photo/Natacha PisarenkoSource:AP

Officers from the UK’s Royal Navy searched for the missing Argentine submarine San Juan in the South Atlantic on Monday, November 20. This video, shared by the UK’s Ministry of Defence on behalf of the Royal Navy, show the view from inside the HMS Protector, the Royal Navy’s ice patrol ship, as it endured waves of up to 10 metres. The HMS Protector arrived in the South Atlantic on November 19, following a request for assistance from the Argentine government, the Royal Navy said. The Protector was joined by the Royal Navy’s specialist Submarine Parachute Assistance Group and the Falklands Islands patrol vessel HMS Clyde to assist with the search efforts. The UK’s Royal Navy was joined by international naval teams from the US, Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay and Peru for the rescue mission. The search for San Juan, which had 44 people on board, had become increasingly desperate after it last made contact with navy officials on Wednesday, November 15, ABC reported. The vessel only had enough oxygen supply for seven days if submerged, the news broadcaster reported. Credit: Twitter/HMS Protector via Storyful